Why is motherhood still the first thing journalists think of?

I often think the age is an odd one too as that's often mentioned for no apparent reason.
... but it's not just journalists:

Nicola Bulley 45y Old mum of 2 little girls missing from River Wyre area since last Friday morning at 9:15am walking her dog, Willow

...a thread on Gransnet. This one has age and a mum.

This thread is a bit tin earred, isn’t it?
A relevant question, but there’s no need to bring NB into it.

(Speaking as one who is not a mother, and whose own mother died young)

Sorry Fanny I thought this was relevant.
Apologies.

Women are often described by their status in the family - mother grandmother.
I remember a women I knew of who had an accident and was described as grandmother of 3, 69. Nowhere did they mention that she was an eminent surgeon.

I agree grandtante the other thing that often puzzles me in media reporting is why the cost of their house is included. Not in this case of course but often when a crime is reported the victim lives in a £250,000 house, why is this relevant ?.

NotSpaghetti

Sorry Fanny I thought this was relevant.
Apologies.

Please don’t apologise!
I’m not the thread police, I just thought it was a bit odd, when on the actual thread about Nicola Bully, we are encouraged not to talk about her circumstances.
Ignore me, it’s up to you what you talk about

I would happily be described as a mother. I am proud to be a mum!

Me too mumofmadboys. I often think if someone goes missing whether they be male or female, do they have a family somewhere. I think of all the things journalists report on that this is way down on my list.

I think it gets worse with age, being described as ‘a pensioner’. I’m past the age where the fact that I have a son would be relevant, but I would hate to be described as ‘a pensioner’. So I have been in receipt of my state pension for quite a few years - but I’m a woman. I am not defined by one of my means of income. Doubtless though, ‘woman’ would be qualified by ‘elderly’ - but why? Whatever has happened to merit a report by the media, what does my means of income or age have to do with it? It’s happened ffs,

I remember the scientist who developed the anti-covid vaccine (ashamed not to know her name) being described first as 'mother of triplets'.

It’s to do with the idea, which I’ve read recently, that we, the GBP, need to know all the details in order to adad our own informed judgements.
So just in case I’m in the news tomorrow, I’ll pre-empt them by saying I’m a teacher, so you can guess my income, an (xx aged) mother, grandmother, campanologist and dog walker who lives in a house at the top of a hill and likes the occasional tot of Baileys Chocolate Luxe.
What would the media, especially TikTok make of that?

Worse than this I think, is the full attack, by a female journalist no less, in the Daily Mail, of course, on the senior detective heading up the operation before Nicola Bulley was found. The journalist was hysterical about the fact that she was wearing a 'tight fitting dress' and 'stilettos' saying that what she was wearing was unprofessional. Unbelievable.

www.nwemail.co.uk/news/23330512.cumbrias-chief-constable-slams-journalist-sexist-jibe

I really wasn't thinking you were policing Fanny -
I was actually feeling for you and your circumstances and thinking it wasn't very thoughtful of me. And then I thought it was insensitive to anyone who had had a loved mother die young.
That's why I wanted to say sorry.

I suspect it isn't the first thing journalists think of. It might be the first piece of information that is given to them or that they find out and, among all the other things a woman can be, it is still one of the most important. There's nothing wrong with mentioning it.

This has always been an irritation for me. Women in news headlines seemed to be defined by their family status, but men by their age, then occupation and place of residence.

I am happy to describe myself as a mother and grandmother, but it is not the be all and end all of my life. There is more to me than that.

I remember an eminent poet in our bookgroup winning a prestigious national poetry prize with television coverage and the local paper’s headline was “Mum wins…..”

sodapop if I am not mistaken, a gransnetter on a regular thread, always asked the value of a newcomer’s house in a jokey way.

grandtante you say
' but if the reporter wanted to have made this cheap point,'
....................................

what? How can you even suggest that it is a cheap point

Journalists press the emotional button or any other kind of disadvantaged button because it get read more.

It’s about that Thing I imagine - unconscious bias.
Women are still defined as daughter, mother, sister , auntie, wife/single etc in a way that doesn’t happen with men.

Houseplantqueen
I have to agree that her outfit was unprofessional. She was there
as a senior police officer. Why was she not in uniform.

Someone I know says this about male banter in the office. She says that women are totally excluded because she feels their voices are heard when it comes to politics, war, or serious news. She says the male colleagues just shout the women down. Identifying female people is still a subversive issue which can sometimes lie hidden in conversation, how women listen etc when a man is speaking. I had several degrees, a well paid professional job and was still identified by how well I could cook within my wider toxic family. One member of the family was always celebrated because of her amazing cakes. Perhaps there should be a standard identification of people i.e. man, 39, from Sometown, but then again it wouldn't catch the headlines which seems to be what most newspapers are after nowadays. There is no determining how low they will stoop to sell their rags.

Thank you NotSpaghetti, you are very kind

Molly you are a campanologist! Ding dong!

They do it with fathers too - "A father-of-three is currently missing ....."